Esplanade Visual Arts
Presents
BETWEEN/WORLDS
Lim Soo Ngee
5 Feb – 3 Apr 2016
Jendela (Visual Arts Space)
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'We are all one another’s angels'
Lim Soo Ngee was born in pre-independence
Singapore in 1962. He obtained a diploma in
sculpture from Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts
(NAFA) in 1989 and left Singapore for Edinburgh
College of Art to pursue a two-year master degree
course. Currently, he is a senior lecturer at NAFA.
Lim’s works have been exhibited widely both
locally and internationally. Besides being included
in the collections of many private collectors, his
works may also be found in various countries’ art
institutions such as Singapore’s National Gallery
and Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay, and Inner
Mongolia’s Asian Sculpture Theme Park.
Lim is one of Singapore’s most notable sculptors.
His recent figure sculptures are well known for their
minimalistically expressed melancholy and solitude.
His works focus on the relationship between the
modern urban environment and its inhabitants’
spiritual alienation, and often lend themselves to
whimsical, humorous and poetic narratives that
offer a perspective on the human condition.
As a sculptor, he has worked with a great variety of
materials and is also skilled at utilising local
resources such as old, recycled wood. He often
applies traditional techniques in his wood carving,
bronze casting and pigment colouring, but the
expressive language of his creation, renewing
traditions by reliving them, is accessible to anyone
in this world. A piece of rustic wood would be
transformed into a thought-provoking
contemporary artwork through his carving.
Between/Worlds (人间天使) and the previous solo
exhibition have an eight-year gap between them; a
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Wang Ruobing: Your last solo exhibition, Paradise –
Tropical Garden, was held in 2008, is there any
difference between the latest exhibition Between/
Worlds (人间天使) and the previous one in terms of
their starting points?
Lim Soo Ngee: Paradise – Tropical Garden, my last
work was held at the Concourse fronting the main
entrance to Esplanade. I didn't have a Chinese title
for it.
It should (has been eight years between my
previous and upcoming exhibitions since the latter
will be showcased in 2016. In the years between, I
exhibited intermittently in several group shows. I
was lacking in both courage and works for another
solo exhibition. Looking back now, I realise the
previous solo exhibition would have been
impossible without the former curator Ernest
Chan’s encouragement and support.
Now, one can see that the works featured in the
previous exhibition were loosely connected and
externally expressive. Between/Worlds (人间天使)
has given me the chance to carry out a full review
of my past works and to sort out the fabric of the
series. I have also had to put a lot of thought into
the arrangement of the works, conceptualised as a
singular installation.
The eight-year gap has certainly given rise to
differences between the exhibitions. I hope that
visitors will be able to discern in this exhibition a
clearer creative process as well as the depths of my
introspection; that which I myself often cannot
really see, but which others might clearly perceive.
Paradise- Tropical Garden
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WRB: Is there any connection between the figures
featured in this exhibition?
LSN: I have never thought about it. Every
character has its own intriguing back story. I think
that when they are displayed in the same
exhibition space, a subtle link will start to form
between them. It's like people on a street; they
may be strangers to one another, but converged
together at a specific place at a specific point of
time, they form an urban scene.
WRB: All your figure sculptures have a unique trait;
each one has been given a pair of clumsy, awkward
wings. They bring to my mind these lines from the
Syrian poet Adonis's poem “My Loneliness is a
Garden”: "The world left me wounded and yet from
the wound grows wings." These clumsily winged
figures are quietly standing alone in a mysterious
and secretive terrain. Through the portrayal of
such worldly figures, is the exhibition trying to
depict our helplessness in the face of the
vicissitudes of life and time?
LSN: I will laugh blithely if you can detect a hint of
poetry in my works.
Honestly, in all these years of making art, I have
been concerned about whether my works
possessed a poetic (literary) quality. I have always
felt that art, like literature, should be examined on
a cultural level.
WRB: From the same poem mentioned above:
"Happiness grows wings, but has no body. Sadness
has a body, but has no wings." The portraits in this
exhibition seem to have both wings and bodies.,
and are something of a paradox of happiness and
sadness. Are you subconsciously using this as a
metaphor to depict a world of integrated angels
and humanity, imagination and reality?
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WRB: Can the upcoming exhibition be
comprehended as a romantic exile from a
concrete jungle?
LSN: An exhibition is a space in which our
imagination can soar, and certainly an artwork is a
“non-realistic” way of narrating or expressing a
concept or purpose. To me, that itself is romantic.
No matter how pragmatic they may be, city folk will
pursue the romantic… All the more those who come
to this exhibition.
With the tableau presented in Between/Worlds
(人间天使) I hope that visitors, within the short time
spent at the exhibition, will be able to feel or
perceive the life that exists outside our awareness,
beyond the reality of city life.
WRB: So is this World full of irony?
LSN: No, I don't think so. My works are not that
acerbic and critical. They possess a softer humour
and a self-deprecating quality.
WRB: There were far more painters than sculptors
in Singapore in the 80s. I’m curious about why you
chose to study sculpture at NAFA.
LSN: Before I embarked on full-time art studies,
I had already begun learning to draw and paint,
meeting with friends to sketch and paint in
watercolour outdoors over the years. Subsequently,
we all enrolled in a part-time western art course at
NAFA. At the time, juggling my job and part-time
art classes, I wanted to learn more about art. Thus,
with the financial support of my brother, I embarked
on art studies. Then, sculpture had just been
introduced at NAFA as a major. I chose it, thinking
that it would give my drawing and painting skills a
firm foundation, and also because my work already
required physical strength in working with tools; I
was young and strong then. I could learn a brand
new subject. That's how I entered the diverse world
of three-dimensional art. I had not planned on
becoming a painter or sculptor; I suppose I
stumbled into that field unwittingly.
WRB: The contemporary Chinese artist Xu Bing
once said, “An artist’s style and taste are not
self-devised, but come about naturally through the
developmental process.” He believes that it is the
artist’s cultural background and life experiences
that shape his or her artistic inclination and style.
Do you think that the style and approach of your
art are shaped by the geographical, political and
socio-cultural contexts of Southeast Asia?
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Level 2, Esplanade Mall
Duration of Exhibition
5 Feb -3 Apr 2016
11am – 8.30pm, Mon- Fri
10am – 8.30pm, Sat, Sun & Public Holiday
period which has seen the fermentation of eight
years of life experiences. This solo exhibition will
showcase 13 distinct figure sculptures made from
various materials in various sizes, displayed
alongside four works on paper. The exhibition’s
arrangement is simple but not empty. Each
sculpture’s form, size, position, material, weight
and even the shadow it casts are all intimately
interlinked. These are the indispensable
components of which the exhibition is composed.
All the 13 sculptures featured in the exhibition
have something in common: they are dressed in
the casual style, and given a pair of clumsy wings,
paired with wooden, melancholic facial
expressions. They bring to mind these lines from
the Syrian poet Adonis's poem “My Loneliness is a
Garden”: "The world left me wounded and yet
from the wound grows wings... Happiness grows
wings, but it has no body. Sadness has a body, but
it has no wings." The figures created by Lim
appear to have both wings and bodies, and to
have both happiness and sadness. Through the
portrayal of this humourous contradiction, the
artist examines himself and his living environment
in a self-deprecating manner and comments on
the relationship between the divine and the
earthly, between imagination and reality.
Between/Worlds (人间天使) ingeniously uses the
raw materials of sculpture, creating figures with
wings and bodies, to depict human mediocrity
and boredom and provoke viewers into reflection.
The sculptures featured in this "earth" (人间)
extend beyond form to become a process with
which one can perceive the world through his own
body.
WRB: For the upcoming exhibition you have
worked with a variety of materials such as wood
and bronze etc. Is there any specific reason
behind it?
LSN: No particular reason, nothing special. I
suppose I worked with whatever material I could
think of. Of the various forms of sculpture, wood
carving is the one that necessitates the most
direct interaction with the material. It's more
convenient than stone sculpture. I personally think
that it is in a wood sculpture that I can easily
discern its creator's true nature.
Bronze is the archetypal traditional material.
Casting bronze sculptures is a complex process,
from clay modelling to making moulds from which
sculptures can be cast in bronze. Even after the
bronze cools down, one can still feel its warmth as
if it was alive.
WRB: How long have you been preparing for the
upcoming exhibition? What's the most difficult
part of the creative process? And what's the most
exciting part for you?
LSN: From my discussions with curator Agnes Lim
last year (2014) till the finalisation of exhibition
plans and the commencement of work this year
(2015), it took about a year.
In the beginning, I didn’t know how many pieces of
work would be included, how they would be
related, or how they should be displayed. Having
my works exhibited in a venue as challenging as
Jendela (which is not a conventional white cube
space), I cannot foresee what the final outcome
will be. Until now, it still fills me with panic.
I think the most difficult and exciting part of this
exhibition will be the final stage of the exhibition’s
installation as well as the visitors’ response to the
works. I'm looking forward to it.
WRB: Figure sculpture has played a leading role in
your recent work. Where do you get your
inspirations for your figure sculptures from?
LSN: I avoid the cold and pure aesthetics of
abstraction and a miscellany of doctrines and
concepts. I would like my works to remind city folk
like us that there are still lovable, warm-hearted
people around us.
Inspiration? Sometimes a paragraph I’ve read or a
picture I’ve seen, or the looks or movements of a
passer-by can set my creative instincts in motion.
LSN: These winged portraits were originally
created with the aim of conveying a very simple
idea: that every man has a kindness in him,
regardless of his appearance. We are all one
another’s angels.
Perhaps over the years, this notion has become
more complicated and demanding and, as a result,
my work has become more diverse. An awkward
artwork can provoke different thoughts and
feelings in its viewers. And that is a beautiful thing.
WRB: With regards to the sculpture Indicator
(指 • 引), what does the gesture imply?
LSN: Actually it has no specific meaning. Viewers
may interpret it however they want. In
communicating with one another, we often
gesticulate with our hands or arms to emphasise
our words. Many of these gestures are common
to all.
The language of sculpture has its limitations.
A gesture added to a sculpture can ignite the
audience’s imagination and attract people to stop,
look and ponder. Perhaps this is a witty trick on
my part, something to keep the audience in front
of the sculpture for a few moments more. What do
you think? Does it point? Or does it attract?
Indicator (指 •引)
LSN: I agree with him. But of course, one has to see
if one can comprehend and accept the fact that the
creative process cannot be planned. It’s not
something that can be cheerfully or calmly
accepted in the beginning.
I believe that each unique environment breeds its
own unique people. Contemporary art today abides
by its own rules of the game that encompass
everything from concept planning, choice of medium
and approach of expression to exhibition curation
and critical review. Perhaps it is also involved in the
international game of power and wealth.
For me, indigenous or marginalised cultures, within
their larger environments, appear powerless, and
thus all the more important. Honestly I’m not that
confused and concerned about styles and
approaches. I work with whatever comes my way. If
you feel in my works the touch of a tropical
Southeast Asian breeze, it would be cool.
Written by Wang Ruobing
Dr. Wang Ruobing is an artist, educator and independent curator.
Her research concentrates on the identity, hybridity, and
transcultural discourses with a special focus on contemporary art
in China and Southeast Asia. Her writings have appeared in
publications such as Yishu: Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art,
Nanyang Art, and exhibition catalogues.
Translated by Saw Kee Wah
Edited by Natalie Foo
This interview was originally conducted in Mandarin
and translated to English.